After the War--The Journals

In which we acquire a bonus and discuss a new opportunity.

Day 30

6am

Rob is here. My son. I cannot even begin to describe how happy I am that at least part of my family survived, is here and within reach! Last time I saw him, he was still a boy in my mind: An adult, working, saving to buy things like his car and computer, but in many ways, still a boy. Now he is, clearly, a man. He has his ‘family’ of Skye and Timmy. He has gotten them here safely. His eyes sometimes have a haunted look in them. He hasn’t talked about it at all yet, but Skye told me he killed to keep them all safe. I am so proud of my son. He did what he had to do to survive, to protect. That took guts.

Skye is the fantasy Rob (I know, he wants to be called Dalthyrian now…sigh…trying) has always dreamed about. She is petite but very long legged. She has masses of red-gold hair and the greenest eyes outside of contacts that I have ever seen. She looks exactly like one of those females on the cover of an Irish romance novel. And, more, she clearly adores him. And even more, she is intelligent and as nice as can be! I am thrilled for them!

Timmy is sweet, doesn’t say a word, and is always hungry. He is relaxing around us all a bit more and seems to be beginning to feel safe. He has latched on to Skye, but now is beginning to spend some time with the rest of us. He just, suddenly, is there in front of you, looking up with deep, bottomless eyes. He is very willing to do small chores and in very happy to sit on a lap and be read to. He has seen too much for a little boy. Hell, we all have.

Day 30. In the old way of things, it has now been a month. A month ago we had worried about bills and jobs and money and keeping a roof over our heads. We worried about being home in time to watch a TV show, or if we’d run out of smokes. We worried about petty things and trivial grievances. Now we live in a world of no electricity, (back in the dark ages as Dal says) with a whole new bunch of things to worry about. The old –with all its luxuries- seems very distant now.

Duncan has been so understanding, and, um, ‘there’ for me of late. I saw him just watching me the other day, a worried expression on his face. I smiled and when he returned the smile, his face lit and his eyes, well, they just did funny things to my stomach. He is a good man.

10:30

Hi. I am Skye. I have traveled across the eons and am now ensconced in this living space with my lover, my inherited son, a mother-in-law (almost), a grandmother and another man who, if I see things correctly, will shortly become as father-in-law. Those two are dancing around the inevitable, both from a logical sense and the illogical. Love clearly exists in this new world. It has survived any and all attempts to destroy it, and I, for one, feel that as long as we can yet love, there is nothing we cannot do, nothing we cannot conquer and nothing we cannot handle. We are strong. The intelligence factor of this group is easily a +85 and it is quite a refreshing change. These are people who will make a new world of this mess!

I have an idea I want to share with everyone tonight. We are having a brainstorming session on stuff in general after dinner.

Timmy seems to be relaxing some. He seems to like Lilac a lot. She must remind him of his grandmother or something. I am handling this instant motherhood fairly well, but it complicates other things. Like Dal. But I will manage.


6pm

Timmy and I went for a walk this afternoon. Well, Danny took Timmy for a walk. We were deep off the road, beyond the barn and suddenly Timmy stood stock still and pointed. Danny barked once and I looked and saw the mangiest horse I’d ever seen happily grazing a short distance away. So, we now have a horse. Big discussion over dinner was what to name him. We’ve decided on Yahoo. I initially mentioned it as a play on the Whooey-nyms from Gulliver’s Travels. Of course the Yahoos were the people, not the horses, but it just seemed fitting. Dal got a kick out of that as his connotation was Yahoo from the net. (Wonder if those folks know from whence it originated?) Lilac mentioned she’d always thought of it as a yell from a person riding a bucking bronco!

Yahoo is anything but. He is the most laid back, lazy, grass munching creature I’ve ever stumbled across. Anywho…Yahoo he is. He’s now in the barn and Timmy and I spent part of the afternoon making him a stall. I told Timmy that Yahoo will be his responsibility. First real smile I’ve seen from that kid.


9pm

We had a meeting tonight. Skye brought up a marvelous idea. As people start to move around more, we may take advantage of the basement cache and open a store for barter. Lots to discuss and work out, but it seems like it may well be a very good idea. Especially, now that we have Yahoo. As he gets stronger, we will have a method for traveling longer distances faster.

I am missing only one thing from the Castle. The radio. I wish I knew what was going on in the world. Dal and Duncan are talking about a trek down the mountain and finding out any news. Skye said she and Dal should go as no one in the Castle knows them and it might be a good idea if they don’t know where we are quite yet. Good head on that girl’s shoulders! They may go tomorrow…

Thus ends Day 30, our first month of life after. I’m not really tired yet. Duncan is off checking on Yahoo, I may go check on Duncan.